England 3-1 Italy
by Layth Yousif
at Wembley Stadium

ENGLAND qualified for next summer's European Championships after beating an underwhelming Italian side 3-1 in front of 83,194 spectators at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The match was notable for further proof that Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham is the finest footballer on the planet right now.

The world class 20-year-old displayed a raft of outstanding attributes, from flair and creativity, to power and athleticism, which, allied with tremendous character and will to win, saw him emerge as the game’s most influential player. In a performance that featured the former Birmingham City player winning a penalty and providing an assist as part of a magnificent end-to-end sweeping move, Bellingham’s superb show against Italy will surely have many around the continent believing this England side can finally put an end to 57 years of hurt.

The triumph also sealed England’s eighth successive tournament qualification, 848 days after Italy won Euro 2020 at the national stadium, as Harry Kane moved past Bobby Charlton’s record of most goals scored at the same ground.

Gareth Southgate's side came from behind to beat the Azzurri, after former West Ham attacker Gianluca Scamacca put the visitors ahead on 15 minutes. England captain Kane equalised with a 32nd minute penalty, before Marcus Rashford put the Three Lions firmly on the path to Germany 2024, after his second half strike sealed victory. There was still time for Kane to make it 3-1 late on as fans celebrated.

Prior to kick-off England boss Southgate made a full 11 changes from the team that beat Australia 1-0 at the national stadium on Friday evening.

Southgate opted for Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips in his starting XI, despite the mantra that squad members must be playing regular football for their clubs. No doubt Raheem Sterling had a right to feel aggrieved, but once again kept his counsel, after failing to be picked, despite notching three goals in eight Premier League appearances for a struggling Chelsea side. Influential Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice started for Three Lions, with Gunners keeper Aaron Ramsdale on the bench.

Southgate also benched Jordan Henderson, who was booed by the crowd during Friday evening's match with Australia.

Given the 33-year-old's previous support for the LGBTQ+ community, prior to signing to play in Saudi Arabia for a pot of cash, it was no surprise the Sunderland-born midfielder's move to the Middle East was seen by many as a betrayal, amplified by the fact he had once been acclaimed as a so-called ally of the cause.

Italy for their part were missing Giorgio Chiellini (Los Angeles) Leonardo Bonnuci (Union Berlin), Marco Verratti (Qatar) and Lorenzo Insigne (Toronto) - the big names absent from the last time the Azzurri met the Three Lions, when lifting Euro 2020 on a dreadful night off the field for English football in July 2021.

Yet it was Italy who took the lead on 15 minutes, when the 24-year-old Scamacca slotted home from close range, following Spalletti's side moving the ball fluently on the edge of the box - aided by Phillips' failing to close down space, and Rice being unable to prevent the ball reaching Giovanni Di Lorenzo on the right flank.

The 30-year-old Napoli man, capitalising on such sloppy play, squared for Atalanta forward Scamacca, who emphatically fired past Jordan Pickford to make the score 1-0.

The strike also underlined the risk in picking the undercooked Phillips - who also received a yellow card after only eight minutes, following a late challenge on Davide Frattesi.

However, Southgate's England are nothing if not resilient, and levelled just after the hour mark, when Bellingham was adjudged to have been brought down by Giovanni Di Lorenzo, after a powering run into the box.

Referee Clement Turpin immediately awarded a penalty - correctly backed up by a tediously slow VAR check.

Up stepped Bayern Munich's Kane, who made no mistake from the spot for his 60th goal for England, sending Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way in the process to make the score 1-1 on 32 minutes.

The AC Milan keeper was alert to keep out Rashford's low shot, before Pickford did the same shortly afterwards, when fending off Spurs defender Destiny Udogie's effort, as the teams went into the break on level terms.

James Maddison fired a shot over the bar after the break, as the home side attempted to seal qualification in style with a victory.

The home side's domination was eventually rewarded when England's second goal came on 57 minutes. Rashford emphatically firing past Milan keeper Donnarumma, after a flowing move that delighted Wembley with its enjoyable fluency. 

The sweeping counter started with Bellingham winning the ball on his own ‘D’, featured the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder lifting the ball over an onrushing Italian player, prior to feeding Rashford. Yet, the most delightful part of the attack was still to come, when Bellingham curved his perfectly timed run, taking out three Italian defenders by running into space for Rashford to blast purposely home for 2-1 to cap a magnificent vignette.

The lively Rashford fired wide shortly afterwards, while Phil Foden had a shot saved, as the home side threatened to overrun a distinctly insipid Italian team, who were nowhere near the quality of their Euro-winning side a mere 28 months ago at the same stadium.

There was still time for the lamentable Henderson to receive plenty of jeers and boos when he replaced Phillips late on. The barracking came from an enlightened England crowd, furious at his hypocrisy in taking Saudi largesse to play in a country that openly persecutes gay people.

There was still also time for Kane to grab his second of the evening, and his 61st goal in England colours, to make victory certain on 77 minutes.

No wonder Southgate was in bullish mode after the match. "We need to make sure we are one of the top seeds next month," he said. "We need to win our next two games. We want to be in control of that. 

"We need to keep building. There is more to come from this team. This was the toughest qualifying group, with the seedings. 

"People have criticised us for not beating the top teams enough. But we have performed really well."

For those England fans who travel everywhere to watch their side, the prospect of finally getting their hands on silverware looms ever larger. Even if, alas, we may well hear the execrable strains of Sweet Caroline plenty more next summer, certainly if the Wembley PA was anything to go by in the aftermath of this professional victory by playing such cliched dirge.